James Franklin is ultimately responsible for Penn State’s implosion after starting the season at No. 2 in the AP Poll. However, you don’t go from the preseason Big Ten title favorite to 0-3 in conference play all alone.
The rest of Franklin’s coaching staff is also culpable for the way the season has unfolded in Happy Valley. Now, as the Nittany Lions stare down an 0-6 start to conference play with Ohio State and Indiana up next, it would be fair to shift some of the attention to the two coordinators that Franklin hired in the final two years of his tenure.
Jim Knowles was brought in to elevate an already high-level defense, and while the group grades out fairly well, even considering the four-game losing streak, it was always going to be a tough task with Abdul Carter in the NFL. Offensively, replacing Tyler Warren has proven to be just as tough, but Andy Kotelnicki, who revitalized the unit in 2024, fell well short of expectations even before Drew Allar’s season-ending injury.
Andy Kotelnicki’s encore has left a lot to be desired
One of the biggest issues for the offense has been the RPO game, as this alarming number from Sports Info Solutions points out. Per their data, Penn State runs RPOs on 19 percent of its plays, yet the Nittany Lions rank 128th in the country at 4.2 yards per play on RPOs.
That’s a huge chunk of the offense, and it’s surprising considering the upgrades Penn State made at wide receiver, the return of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singelton, and Allar’s increased mobility prior to his injury.
The RPO usage isn’t necessarily a problem on its own. If you’re going to be running the ball out of shotgun and don’t have a true run threat at quarterback to give you the 11-man run-game, then the threat of the pass is a great way to manipulate linebackers and slow the overall pursuit of the defense. They just haven’t worked this season, and that’s bad news for Ethan Grunkemeyer, who relied heavily on RPOs in his first career start against Iowa.
The numbers could be a symptom of Penn State’s overall struggles throwing the ball, ranking 83rd in EPA/dropback with a 1st percentile explosive pass rate of 5.1 percent. The unit is still running the ball efficiently, slotting in the top 20 for EPA/carry and success rate with a 92nd percentile explosive rush rate.
Either way, whether it’s issues in the RPO game specifically, or an overall lack of explosive pop in the passing game, something Kotelnicki was so good at manufacturing, particularly for Warren, a year ago, the offense has not been good enough.
Kotelnicki will almost certainly move on after this year, but rather than landing a head coaching gig, as was expected last offseason, he’ll likely be looking to rebuild his resume, and he should do it with an athletic quarterback who is a better fit for his system.